2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup. Where does the game go next?
Images courtesy of World Sport Pics & FIH
A Victory for Germany
When the final whistle of the 2023 Men’s World Cup Final blew on 29 January, it marked an epic victory for Germany. The come-back kings of the tournament beat the defending World Champions, Belgium, in characteristically dramatic style – leaving their victory to be decided in the very last seconds by a sudden-death penalty shoot-out. The action and atmosphere in Bhubaneshwar’s Kalinga Stadium were electric.
A Victory for Hockey
But this wasn’t a phenomenon reserved solely for the final. The 8th World Cup played out on Poligras was a spectacle from start to finish. From Bhubaneshwar to the world’s biggest all-seater stadium at Rourkela, we witnessed stadiums that were packed to the rafters; incredible skill, speed and power from our sport’s best male athletes and an aerial game that has reached phenomenal new heights. It was a victory for Germany. But it was also a victory for hockey.
“The success of the 2023 Men’s World Cup naturally begs the question; where does the game go from here?”
2026 will mark 10 World Cups on Poligras
In geographical terms, India is handing the World Cup baton on to two countries. The 2026 Men’s and Women’s World Cups will be combined and staged across the Netherlands and neighbouring Belgium – both nations with a rich hockey heritage and following. We provided the very first Poligras World Cup turf at the Wagener Stadium in the Netherlands in 1986 and following last year’s Women’s World Cup, 2026 will be the third World Cup played on Poligras at the famous stadium. The double tournament also marks the 9th and 10th World Cups in total, to be played on Poligras.
Olympic and World Cup-quality turf will reach hockey clubs
The impact on the game will extend beyond the World Cup venues as Olympic and World Cup quality turf is made accessible at a grassroots level. Ambitious and progressive clubs and venues in the Netherlands, Belgium and beyond, looking to help their players reach new levels of skill and performance will be installing Poligras in the coming years.
Hockey will be played on Poligras from Paris to Oman
The shorter form of the game will head to Oman for the Hockey 5s World Cup in 2025, but not before the 11-a-side game celebrates its Olympic pinnacle in Paris in 2024. Both tournaments have again, trusted and chosen Poligras as their playing surface.
Hockey will go greener.
Beyond literal venues, hockey is going places from a sustainability perspective. 2022 saw the launch of the FIH Sustainability Strategy. As a long-standing partner of both the FIH and the game globally, we are committed to helping to build a more sustainable future for the sport.
Poligras is the only turf made from bio-based sugar cane – an environmental innovation which we developed for Tokyo2020. Building on this, Poligras Paris GT zero – the new green turf technology we have developed for the next Olympics - marks the advent of hockey’s first carbon zero turf. With the first Paris GT turf already laid at Hamburg Polo Club in Germany, and over 50 installations of our Tokyo turf at venues globally, we have proof-positive of a hockey community that wants to be climate-positive.